That is when Google bought the site for $1.65bn, an amount widely thought at the time to be overvaluing a website that was struggling to make money.

In 2012 it is estimated that YouTube generated $1.3bn in video advertising. Many hundreds of millions more are thought to be generated from search and banner advertising on the site, according to the Financial Times.

YouTube claims that one in every two internet users is a regular visitor to the site.

At the end of last year it celebrated the world’s first billion-view video with Psy’s Gangnam Style. The South Korean singer’s dance craze video is now well on the way to 1.5bn views.

YouTube now gets more search queries than any other website apart from Google’s own search engine.

YouTube is also looking to capitalise on the emerging market of straight-to-web subscription television being pioneered by companies such as Netflix and Amazon.